Disclaimer: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion or Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3; those rights belong to Hideaki Anno and Atlus respectively. I'm not making any kind of monetary reward by writing this, and don't expect any. I'm writing this for my own entertainment and to entertain the people who will bother to read this.
Summary: "I don't care about any of that…the only thing I care about is protecting the world that Hamuko and the others sacrificed so much to save!" Shinjiro roared as he looked upon the Angel before him with loathing shining within the depths of his glowing red eyes. He lunged forward, the hands of the Evangelion balled up into fists. "Anyone who even thinks of getting in my way will be crushed by my hand!"
Warning(s): This story contains blood, character death, extreme violence, offensive language, sexual themes, use of alcohol, use of drugs, etc.
Remember, You Will (Not) Die
[Prologue]
"You don't have to do this Shinji."
Lifting his steel blue eyes up from the two gravestones that lie before them, Shinjiro Aragaki locked gazes with his best friend, Akihiko Sanada. It had been two weeks since graduation day at Gekkoukan, and since he had lost her for the second time. The slight breeze ruffled his unkempt chestnut brown hair, which for once was sans the black beanie. One of his hands were stuffed into the pocket of his maroon peacoat, while the other was holding a mixed bouquet of flowers; many of them saying everything that he didn't get to say himself before it was too late. Violet, yellow, and red Tulips, a Star of Bethlehem in the middle with white and red roses, peonies, pansies, Lilac, Hyacinths, Ginger, Forget-Me-Nots, and Cosmos Chrysanthemums surrounding it, wrapped in white paper held together with a red and orange ribbon. Tapping the tip of his brown boots on the ground underneath them, he snorted.
"Of course I do Aki, that shitty bastard has made it clear that he now has a use for me." He grumbled as he turned his head back towards the grave, so he wouldn't have to witness the guilt and turmoil in those grey pools. Since the moment he had been discharged from the hospital, and the rest of the SEES members came upon him and her sitting on the roof of the high school. Only Akihiko knew exactly how he felt having those final moments between him and Hamuko interrupted. Because he too had been in love with the vibrant girl that had not only changed their lives, but sacrificed her life to allow them the world to continue on.
He had admitted it to Shinjiro himself recently, and even admitted that he had pursued her only to be turned away. And while most would be angered, Shinjiro wasn't. No one could've known if he would've ever woke up from his coma, and if there was anyone he would've entrusted her heart to it would've been Aki. But now, this guilt was for a different reason than their mutually felt feelings for the same girl.
Just yesterday, a letter had come in from Shinji's absentee father; a bastard that the 18-year-old had been determined to forget since he was placed on the doorstep of the orphanage where he met Aki and Miki, the latter's younger sister. Instead of having any decency, the man was straight to the point and just as arrogant as always.
"Come. I have a use for you…can you believe the balls that bastard has?" Shinjiro joked humorlessly, as he kneeled down in front of the grave on the left. He trailed his fingers along the name inscribed into the stone gently.
Clenching his fists tightly, Akihiko gritted his teeth while keeping his eyes on the bouquet of sunflowers they had placed upon his sister's grave.
"After all this time, after leaving you with those relatives of yours, not even bothering to look for you after they abandoned you at the orphanage…he probably didn't even realize you ever left that house!" He raged, as he clenched his eyes closed and turned his head to the side. "What could've pushed him to want to see you now? What is this use he now has for you Shinji?"
The corner of his lip twitched, but he only closed his eyes and inhaled deeply before exhaling.
"It doesn't really matter in the end; he has the power to make things exceedingly difficult for all of us, especially Mitsuru…with having to deal with taking over the Kirijō group and establishing herself as the true leader now that her father is dead." Shinjiro acknowledged bitterly, before placing his bouquet amongst the others that practically decorated the space. "Besides…" He trailed off wistfully, his eyes turned towards the blue sky above them.
"I feel that this is something that I have to do…" Chuckling humorlessly, he tilted his head and gazed at his friend with determined eyes.
"For years I have been running from my past, my mistakes, just existing…regretting everything…I feel like now is the time to face it all." Shinjiro stated frankly as he stood up to his full height of 5'10". Brushing his bangs away from his face, he turned his gaze once more towards the sky and allowed a small smile to form on his face. "When I return here after my business with the old man is finished, I will be a changed man…a better man, like I had promised Hamuko I would become." He declared firmly, shoving his hands into the pockets of his peacoat.
From the expression on the boxer's face, the taller male could tell that his friend wanted nothing more than to persuade him out of his choice, but knew that it was no use. There were only two people who held that kind of power over him, and both of them were lying before him in these graves at their feet. After a few moments of silence, Akihiko hung his head and accepted his defeat. Raising a gloved hand, he placed it onto Shinjiro's shoulder and stared at him with hard eyes.
"While I don't like it, I'll accept your decision...but know that if we come to find out that you're being placed in danger, we will come running to get you back…we've already lost so much and we don't want to lose you again." He declared sincerely and full of the resolve that he had come to gain after their adventures to scale Tartarus and then during their battle with Nyx.
The shock he felt showed on Shinjiro's face briefly, before he shook his head and closed his eyes as the corners of his lips curled up slightly.
"I hear ya…and thanks, Aki."
Both of the ex-SEES members looked up at the sky together, their minds focused upon the future that now lay ahead of them.
Unseen by Shinjiro and Akihiko, standing in between them were two female spirits. One, an older girl with brown hair and crimson eyes placed her hand on Shinjiro and the other a small child with brown hair and grey eyes that placed hers onto Akihiko. Both looked towards each other with cheerful smiles. Though the future was uncertain, the two young men were ready to face it head on.
Shinjiro was in for rough times, and he would be thrown into a fight that would determine the fate of the world as the wild card once did.
Only this time, he would be on his own.
By his side, Hamuko rested her head on his shoulder, praying to the Kami that they would look after him where she couldn't any longer.
End of Prologue
This is an idea that had come to me after reading vast amounts of Evangelion fanfiction where Shinji was either raised by someone else or was someone else entirely. With my intense love of the Megami Tensei series, and particularly my love for Persona 3, this idea was born. Shinjiro Aragaki is in fact Shinji Ikari. I'm going to go ahead and start working on the next chapter, and as you can tell there are going to be some major differences. Shinji is 18, and so 3 years older than he is in canon. This is not the Shinji that is from canon, and he will certainly not handle things the same way canon Shinji did (or didn't?). He is Shinjiro Aragaki, a guy that doesn't take anyone bullshit and will head butt you without a second thought. He is the hero (would anti-hero fit better?) of this story and hopefully I'll be able to portray him well enough.
I know some will probably not like how short this is, but keep in mind that it is a prologue and not an actual chapter. I will try to keep every chapter about 10,000 or so words a chapter. I won't be able to do that all the time, but that is a goal I'm trying to go for.
At the moment, that is all I have to say. So I hope that you will enjoy the chapter enough to stick around.
Skjálf Frost-Born